if i knew then what i know now ... i would have brought an icescraper with me

Oh, btw: I survived the SnowPocalypse.

I braved the storm Saturday to catch some 9am snow-action shots for my Constant(ly Curious) Readers.  It was misery:

You're welcome.

This, you may recognize, is the southeast view from my window.  Please compare to sunny, beautiful Fall views.  I'm tempted to call "WHITEOUT" but then, I'm prone to drama:

And Sunday noon-ish, after snow[plow]man had worked his dubious magic on the parking lot.  Poor Christine.  She fought tooth and nail against this move, and it's hard to blame her:

When I got outside and saw the above, I did in fact stop short.

Um, this is a first: on the rare occasion I see snow, it is way rarer that will stick to the ground.  This predicament blew my mind.  I was bewildered.  I squinted at the parking lot and tallied my ideas.

• 1) All-wheel drive?
• Instantly squished: I would have to AWD it over 23 inches of snow from a dead standstill and I am not about to bottom out on a snowdrift.  In my parking lot.
• 2) I was out of ideas. 

I literally called Dan and asked for help.

I would also like to take a moment and stress how grateful I am for my HM-GBiffles: he only laughed once.  Then he carefully described "digging out," what tools one can use for it, and the necessity of vehicular "rocking" finesse.  Slowly the grim reality dawned: this is going to mean a snowshovel.

I mean, it's all part of the experience, right?  I made the call to live up North for kicks and giggles -- time to become one with the community.  Like an anthropology project.  From hell.

So I rolled up my winter coat sleeves and marched to the front desk.  I explained I'm from the South and utterly baffled by all this white stuff, but understand that a tool one might call a "shovel for snow" exists and could be just what I need.

I was offered both snowshovel and Dennis (property manager)'s snowshoveling machine. The shovel looked heavy.  Dennis's machine came operated by Dennis.

Thanks Dennis!

To conclude, I'm unconvinced that snow is desirable, but at least I know what it's like to live in a state that can actually handle snowfall.  A few questions remain, like: I'm still not entirely sure how the highway got plowed so fast?  Especially when the concrete dividers are so high.  Where does almost two feet of snow GO but to the side of the road ... when there's no side of the road ...?

Also my understanding is that Virginia is crippled for weeks.  I'll be sending canned foods and batteries in to the drive soon, Constant VA Readers.  Be strong.

So ... til the next PhillyVenture!
xoxo Anne